

SLAVERY IN THL TERRITORIES. 



SPEECH 



HON. D. WJLMOT, OF PENNSYLVANIA, 



IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MAY 3, 1850, 

fn Commiitee of the Whole on the state of the Union, on the President's Message trans- 
• mitling the Constitution of California. 



V 



Mr. WILMOT said: i jti!l-controlling selfishness— embarrassed by nodis- 

Mr. Chairman-. This lengthened debate, in my hsensions— rcfstniinF.d by no ties of brotherhood, 

iud^menf, has been productiveof at least one good I nor by the obligations of a high and holy patriot- 

"resiilt. It has disclosed, beyond ail question ofjiism, the champions of human bondage stand 



denial or equivocation, the policy and purpose of 
the South. It affords ample justification, if any 
'vere needed, where the patli of duty is so clearly 
marked o.2t, for firm adherence to that policy, 
upon which I have stood from the first, and upon 
which I intend to stand throughout this momentous 
3trugs:le. 



banded together, pressing on directly to the accom- 
plishment of their object, and threatening, if 
thwarted in their purpose, the dismemberment of 
the Union, and the total destruction of the free 
institutions under which we live. Such, sir, is the 
spirit and temper of the slave power, as exhibited 
in this struggle — a power as insolent, as arrogant. 



Oflhe character of this struggle, if there were l! as defiant of right, and justice, and law, as the 



ever room for doubt, there am be doubt no longer. 
It must now be conceded that there is iuhstance in 
this controversy — that the principle of ■positive pro- 
hibitioii by Congress, against .slavery in tlie terri- 
tories of the nation, is not an abstraction, having 
no practical object, and leading to no practical 
result. Four years of earnest, and often acrimo- 
:iious debate ill the halls of this Capitol — an agita- 
tion wide-spre.td as the country, reaching all classes, 



most treasonable conspiracy that ever reared its 
head against a just and be^nign government. 

Sir, this spirit of threatning and defiance, must 
be successfully resisted, or we are ourselves the 
veriest of slaves. What! shall the line of our 
conduct be prescribed lo us under the pressure of 
treasonable threats ? We have severally sworn to 
support the Constitution, each man for himself; 
nd for our fidelity in this respect, we must stand 



and stiring to their profbundest depths the passions j j individually responsible to God and the country 



>f men, attests the magnitude of the struggle, and 
the mighty interests dependent upon its issue. 
Except that protracted and bloody conflict which 
gave birth to the nation, none has arisen, and; in 
my judgment, none will arise in our subsequent 
history, involving interests so vast, consequences 
.so momcnto.is for good or evil, as the one now 
pressing its fearful weight upon us — reaching, as it 
Joes, to the remotest posterity, and involving, if 
not the existence, the character and policy of our 
Government, so iong as we shall have a name and 
a place among the family of nations. The ultimate 
decision of the present controversy will settle the 



But we are told that we must understand thatCon- 
i stitutioii, as it shall be taught us by the advocates 
! of slavery — we must adopt their construction of 
I that instrument, and if we presume to overstep the 
I limits of their interpretation, that the Union shall 

be dissolved, and our system of government over- 

thrown. Not only this, butthe line of our action is 
I prescribed to us, within the acknowledged limits 
j of the Constitution. " New States may be admit- 
! ted by the Congress into this Union," is the ex- 
! plicit language of that instrument. Yet we are 
I given to understand, if we presume to exercise 

This clear and admitted power in the case of CaJi- 



great question, of the condition and de.^tiny of the j \ fornia, without making certain concessions to sla 



southern half of this Continent. It will also settle 
another great question: whether this Government 
jhall beadniinistered in the spirit that gave it 
birth, or whether the sufiering.s and trials of the 
Revolution shail have been endured in vain — 
whether our Democratic institutions are to stand, 
or :his Government become an Aristocracy, based 
upon slave property, and slave representation. 

In the a.'-pect of results thus lasting and moment- 
ous, has the present struggle been viewed by those 
interested in the extension and perpetuation of sla- 
very. On their part, the conflict has been main- 
tained in a spirit and temper commensurate with 
their estimate of the m;>u:nitude of the interests in- 
volved, in behalf of silvery, this baitle has been 
fought with a desperation, kindred to madness 
■ndissolubly united in the bonds of a supreme and 



y as an equivalent, that measures of a revolu- 
tionary character will be brought into requisition to 
arrest'our action— that the ordinary government 
supplies will be withheld — that the yeas and nayt 
will be called , in defiance of parliamentary law and 
usage, upon frivolous and dilatory motions until 
the end of the present Congress. 

Sir, where are wf .' Is this a Chamber in which 
the representatives of freemen meet, for the dis- 
cussion and determination of grave and important 
questions ? or is it a theatre upon which slaves are 
taught their obligations and their duties? It be- 
hoves us to examine the ground upon which we 
stand. We have arrived at a point from whick 
we cannot retreat, without a surrender of our in- 
dependence as representatives upon this floor. I 
repeat it, ire i/iust go fcnca d. To step back — to 



^v-oi 



\ 



•z 







cower under these threats, is base dishonor — a 

virtual surrender of our rights, and the rights of the 
freemen whose representatives we are. It is no 
question of feeling or personal pride; but of inde- 
pendent action upon this floor — of the exercise of 
those acknowledged powers, which belong to us 
as a part of the Government. Shall ihe acknowl- 
edged powers of this Government be exercised 
hrough its constitutional organs? or is a band of 
conspirators to arrest its action and set its author- 
ity at defiance? This, sir, is the point we have 
reached. I am for meeting the issue here and now. 
1 will yield no.thing to treason. I will know no 
concessions to the threats of faction. It would be 
base cowardice — a flagrant dereliction of public 
duty — a surrender of the constitutional powers of 
this House into the hands of a factious minority, 
subversive of all rightful authority, and destructive 
of the very foundations of our institutions of gov- 
ernment. 

Who is it, and what is it, that dares thus hurl 
defiance at the constitutional authority of this Gov- 
ernment: — that dares threaten a dismemberment 
of this Union? I answer, an aristocracy of slave- 
holders, who, not content with that share of influ- 
ence and political power given them by the Con- 
stitution, demand the absolute control of this 
Government — the right to dictate the sphere and 
the modes of its action. What could be more 
despotic, than to make the existence of the Gov- 
ernment depend upon the acquiescence of Con- 
gress in such a constructiom of the Constitu- 
tion as the representatives of a particular section 
chose to place upon it, from time to timer If we 
will make our action conform to the Constitution 
as it shall be expounded to us by the representa- 
tives from the slave States, we are assured that all 
shall be well — that agitation shall cease, and peace 
and harmony be restored to our country;' but if 
we dare to read that instrument for ourselves, and 
to act upon our understanding of its true meaning, 
we are threatened with convulsions, and blood- 
shed, and civil war. If one man should assume 
the right to fix an authoritative construction upon 
the Constitution — to dictate what Congress might, 
ani what it might not do — acquiescence in this de- 
mand, would be to change this Government into 
an absolute monarchy. To concede that right to 
any number less than a majority, is to convert it 
into an aristocracy. Yet this is what we are called 
upon to do at the peril of the very existence of the 
GMvernmeiit itself. Sir, I am no agitator; I am 
the friend and the lover of peace; but 1 prefer 
agitation — I prefer any extremity of danger, to the 
peace that is proffered ue. 

The great champion of the South, now num- 
bered among the dead — he whose courage equaled 
his designs — scorning all circumlocution and in- 
direction, marched boldly up to his object, and 
proposed such an amendment of the Constitution 
as should place this Government in the power of 
a minority. This bold and direct proposition 
startled the country. There was no disguise in it. 
It could be clearly seen and understood ; and being 
seen, the people of the free States as one man re- 
volted at the proposition; and many of the most 
ultra men of the South shrunk back from the 
ground their great leader had fearlessly taken. It 
was too bold. It stripped slavery of its disguise, 
and exposed the length and breadthof its demands. 
Dangerous as was this proposition, it was harm- 



less compared with the covtrl demands made upon 
us by the less courageous advocates of slavery. 
They seek, by indirect means, more than Mr. 
Calhoun ever demanded by a change of the Con- 
stitution. They require that Congress and the 
country shall acquiesce in their construction of the 
Constitution, and make the overthrow of our in- 
stitutions the penalty of disobedience. Sir, if the 
North, under the influence of threats, and the 
seductions of patronage, can be brought to this, it 
is better for the aristocracy of slavery, than any 
written constitutional amendment. It is an ever- 
changing amendment, adapted to all emergencies, 
and equal to every necessity. I prefer any change 
of the Constitution to this. If thegreat^rinciples 
of our Government are to be subverted, and an 
aristocracy established upon its ruins, let it be done 
by a change in our organic law — let it be written 
down, so that the freemen of this country may 
see it. Let the powers and privileges of our mas- 
ters be distincly defined, and such rights as are 
vouchsafed to us, have the guarantees of written 
law. Of all tyrannies, save me from that unlimited 
and undefined tyranny, which acknowledges no 
restraint except the will or caprice of the tyrant — 
which demands control over my judgment and 
conscience, and enforces obedience by threats, if 
not of life, of all that makes life valuable. 

Mr. Chairman, this is no picture of the imagin- 
ation, but a sober reality. How stand the facta? 
We of the non-slaveholding States believe that 
Congress has power under the Contitution to pro- 
hibit slavery in the national territories. We have 
read that instrument for ourselves. We have 
carefully studied its provisions. We have called 
to our aid the lights of history and the experience 
of the past, and we find our opinions fortified by 
the unbroken action of this Government, through- 
out all its departments, for the entire period of its 
existence. We believe further, that it is our 
bounden duty to God and the country to exercise 
this power, and to give to the principle of the non- 
extension of slavery, the authority and force of 
positive law. How are we met? We are told 
that if we, being in a majority, dare to act upon 
this, our understanding of the Constitution — if we 
shall dare to carry out our deep and solemn con- 
victions of public duty, that the Union shall be 
dissolved, and our country involved in anarchy 
and the horrors of civil war. Gentlemen repre- 
senting the slave States tell us that they have a 
different reading of the Constitution. Disregard- 
ing all precedents — rejecting all contemporaneous 
I construction, they arrogate to themselves infalli- 
j bility as the expounders of that instrument; and if 
I we shall dare act counter to their exposition, they 
: notify us by the most solemn warnings, that the 
Government shall be overthrown, and ourglorious 
institutions of liberty and law buried in the abyss 
of irretrievable ruin. Sir, no dangers threaten the 
Republic so imminent as the assaults made by 
slavery upon the Constitution and powers of this 
Government. Submission to its threats and de- 
mands is the most direful calamity that can befall 
us. What more fatal to liberty? What more 
subversive of our institutions than a surrender of 
the Constitution, and the rights of a majority 
under it, and the adoption, as the law of our 
guidance, of the arbitrary behests of slavery, en- 
:, forced by threats of violence and blood? 
' Again, Mr. Chairman, we propose to admit 



California into the Union. Our riffht to do so | 
is acknowledged. Here there is no dispute of our 
constitutional power; yet, here again we are 
warned not to proceed at the hazard of the Union. 
We are told that California shall not be admitted, i 
except upon such terms as slavery shall prescribe, j 
That its admission must be purchased by the sub- j 
stantial concession of opening wide the door for | 
the introduction of slavery into our other territo- ; 
ries. Yes, sir; upon the question of the uncon- 
ditional admission of California, here in the plain : 
and open highway of our duty, slavery hurls its ' 
defiance in our teeth. We are bidden to stand at i 
our peril. Shall we here too, purchase peace by j 
submission? Shall we "save the Union" by stand- 
ing like trembling cowards in our tracks ; Those 
can obey the mandate who choose. I shall not. 
To my ear it sounds like the crack of the whip; 
and he who cowers under it is better fitted for the 
service of the plantation, than for the performance 
of those responsible duties which belong to the 
representative of a free people. 

Upon the question of the admission of Califor- '• 
nia as n separate and independent measure, there is 
but one sentiment among the people of the free 
States. It is demanded by the general and unani- 
mous voice of all parties. The most servile of 
the pro-slavery press of the North has never pre- 
sumed 30 far to outrage public feeling as to advo- 
cate the connection of any other measure with the 
adm.ission of California. Upon this point even ! 
the Pennsylvanian has been silent, while upon all ■ 
others it has kept neck and neck with the Wash- 
ington Union and Charleston Mercury in its advo- 
cacy of the most extravagant demands of the 
South, and is justly entitled to preeminence over 
both in the bitterness and malignity of its assaults 
upon the principles and friends of freedom. It 
has been forced, by the strong public sentiment at 
home, to conceal its opposition to the unconditional 
admission of California — to disguise its hostility 
under cover of a " general compromise." 

When we assembled in this hall in December 
last, there could not have been found five Repre- 
sentatives from the free States who were not op- 
posed to mixing up California with ether subjects 
of controversy and strife. Here, at last, the North 
was to take a firm stand — one from which she was 
not to be seduced by promises or driven by threats. 
How stands this House today upon the ques- 
tion of tiie unconditional admission of California ? 
God, sir, only knows; but if reliance can be placed 
upon the confident assertions of the friends of 
slavery, the friends of California are in a minority 
upon th'^s floor. The great measure of her admis- 
sion with a free constitution, is to be embarrassed 
by que.stions of territorial governments for New 
Mexico and Utah, and the settlement of the bound- 
aries of Texas. California is to be compromised 
into the Union, and the price of her admission is 
the extension of slavery. Sir, I trust in God that 
this will not be. If the North prove recreant »!ou', 
and upon this question, when and where can we 
hope for manful and successful resistance against 
the aggressions and threats of slavery .- I trust 
that the Representatives from the North will never 
consent that California shall be made the make- 
weight for the extension of slavery — that they 
will save themselves and the honest constituencies 
they represent from this deep humiliation. Cali- 
fornia abandoned as an independent and separate 



measure, and there is no ground upon which the 
friends of freedom can stand and maintain this un- 
equal struggle. This crowning act of treachery 
to northern interests and northern rights, would 
strike a chill upon the hearts of the freemen of 
this land. I should myself feel as if the chains 
were clanking upon my own limbs. I pray Hea- 
ven that it may not be; yet I fear the arrangements 
and corruptions of this political mart, wliere prin- 
ciples and the highest interests of humanity are 
mere commodities, that are bought and sold for 
office— where the question of the Presidency is 
made to override the great issue of freedom or 
slavery. Would to God that the men who are at 
the plough and in the workshops could be here to 
speak and vote upon these momentous questions. 
They, sir, could not be seduced by flattery, nor 
awed by threats, nor corrupted by office. With 
them the love of truth is stronger than the love of 
gold. 

Mr. Chairman, the whole history of this strug- 
gle is a history of high and haughty bearing — of 
proud and arrogant defiance on the part of slavery; 
while on the side of freedom there has been a 
shameful exhibition of weakness, irresolution, and 
a timidity bordering on cowardice. The North 
has been driven from one position to another, until 
the outposts are all abandoned, and v,-e are now- 
summoned to an unconditional surrender of the 
citadel itself. Under the influence of threats, of 
persuasion, of flattery, and above all, of patronage 
and the promise of political preferment, our num- 
bers have been reduced by desertion — our ranks 
broken, our forces divided, until there is danger 
of a general rout. In the commencement of this 
struggle, the friends of freedom were closely and 
thoroughly united upon the ground oC positive legis- 
lative prohibition against the introduction of slavery 
into any territory which we might acquire from 
Mexico. The constitutionality and propriety of 
this position, met with the general and almost 
universal assent of the people of the free States. 
Their Representatives on this floor, presented the 
same united and unbroken front. Soon, however, 
the ranks of the northern Democracy began to 
give way, under the pressure and patronage of a 
southern Administration. Fearing to abandon at 
one step, a principle which had been received with 
such general favor, the allies of slavery extension 
in the North, discovered that the agitation of the 
subject was "premature." Claiming still to oc- 
cupy the same high ground — loud and zealous in 
their professions of fidelity to the principles and 
the cause of freedom, they took shelter behind the 
plea, that the Proviso, as an amendment to the 
three million bill, was inappropriate, both as to 
time and place; that we should acqxtire the ter- 
ritory before seeking to ingraft upon it the ordi- 
nance of freedom. Under this specious disguise — 
this cloak of friendship— were sounded in the 
North the first notes of opposition to the Pro- 
viso. Under cover of such false and hypocritical 
professions was the cry raised by the first desert- 
ers, of "/iKmftug." "idle abstraction," and such 
like epithets, believing that if, for any cause, they 
could succeed in creating a prejudice against 
the name, it would be easy to put down the prin- 
ciple itself. I could quote from the speeches of 
various gentlemen, in support of what I have here 
said,as"to the ground of opposition fir.st made 
ao-ainst the Proviso. I will, however, confine my- 




self to reading; a short extract from the speech of 
a former colleague. I make this selection, because 
he has made himself conspicuous of late, in de- 
nouncing the principle, and all who support it. 
He has become a traveling missionary in the 
cause of slavery propagandism. His opposition 
knows no bounds. He denounces the Proviso as 
a violation of the Constitution — a damning politi- 
cal heresy — an old P'cderal delusion; and all who 
support It as renegades and traitors to the Demo- 
cratic party. Three years age lie stood upon this 
floor, cloaking his opposition under professions of 
friendship, solemnly pledging himself in the face 
of the nation, to go for ingrafting the principles of 
the Proviso upon the legislation of the country 
■whenever the territories should be acquired, and 
Congress called upon to establish territorial gov- 
ernments therein. I hope his southern friends 
M'ill take note of this case, as one especially de- 
servintr remembrance and reward. The appoint- 
ment of charge d'ajfaires would be but a reasona- 
ble recompense for the industrious and important 
services of their ally since the opening of the pres- 
ent fession of Congress. This notice, 1 am cer- 
tain, will insure him a safe passport through the 
Senate. 

I read from the speech of the Hon. Richard 
Biodhead delivered in this House, February 9, 
1847. 

Ji- " I have thus, Mr. Chairman, briefly staled my olijcutioiis 
to my friend and colleague's [Mr. VVil.mot] celebrated 
ainendiiieiit. I will now make some observations of a gen- 
eral character upon the tuliject ol" slavery, in relation to 
which so much has been said in this debate, in ordi^r that 
my position and views may not be misconstrued. First, 
however, jicrmit nie to premise, that if'u-'e hail acquired cither 
New Mexico or California, and a bill icus before the House 
proviilini terrUorinl governments therein, or a bill u-ai before 
the H iwic }nroviiHnz for the admi'^iion of cither of those Prov- 
inces as Stales, {the ierrilorti being fint cequircd l.y treaty,) I 
\i<ould vote for a pi-ovi->ion cxi luding slavery. I favor the yrin- 
cijile coiitidned in the ainendnient of my cullea«uc, and xcill s,o 
for inarnftint; it upon the legislation of the rountry, but in 
the proper form, and at the propc^r time and place, when the 
jtower to do so can be righUully exercised." 

Sir, this " prtmalure dodge,'^ which we have 
Been invoked at the present session, by a distin- 
guished representative from Massachusetts, is not 
original with him. I claim priority of discovery 
for the gentleman from whose speech 1 have just 
read; ai;d I think I could find some score or more, 
who have at least three years advantage of the gen- 
tleman from Boston, in its use. I should not have 
deemed this worthy of note, but that 1 do not 
think it fair in Massachusetts to claisn originality 
for all tlie inventions connected with this subject. 
She, 1 fear, will bo coming in for pay, to the exdu- 
eion of earlier and more meritorious inventors. A 
distinguished Senator from that State, claimed the 
Proviso by right of prior discovery, and exhibited 
much warmth and indiiination, that humbler men 
should play with his " thunder." This, however, 
promi.smK tirither quick nor large returns of profit, 
the distingiiiKhed Senator has recently abandoned, 
and patented another invention, under the name of 
*^ physical geography," or the " laic of the formation 
of the earth," by which he proposes to quiet the 
apprehensions of the North, upon the .<!ubject of 
the extension of slavery. Here again, Massaohu- 
setts is infringing upon the rights of Pennsylvania. 
This same panacea was olTered to the ]iublic as 
early as the lall of 1847, by a distinguished citizen 
of my own State, in a celebrated document, known 
as the " Berks county Letter. " It did not promise 



] at that time to become a popular ^nediciv.*.'^, Every 
' Whig stomach rejected it. We shall see whether 
or not it will be more palatable to them, when 
administered by one of their own doctors. But, 
sir, it is not my purpose to enlarge upon this theme. 
I only desired to state the facts, to vindicate the 
" truth of history," and to notify the Soutli, that 
Pennsylvania claims the first installment of pay. 

To return, Mr. Chairman, to the subject from 
which I have been led by this digression: It was 
under pled;jes of fidelity and support, that treach- 
ery to freedom first took shelter. This cloak wa$ 
worn, until the South demanded that it should be 
laid aside. The territories were acquired, and it 
i became necessary cither to stand up to these pro- 
fessions, or to find some new cover behind which 
to shelter opposition. A presidential election was 
approaching. The slave power insolently pro- 
claimed its purpose to support no man for that 
high office, who should regard with the leeist favor 
the ordinance of freedom. True, a prominent can- 
didate had given it his unequivocal endorsement — 
had spoken of it as a great measure of right, which 
I ought not, and must not be abandoned. But 
I slavery was inexorable. The oracle must speak, 
i and it must speak as commanded. Sir, the oracle 
did speak, and we had produced the " Nicholson 
letter," in which, for the first time, the ground 
was taken by a northern man, that the •' Proviso" 
: wa.^ unconstitutional. 

} We hear much said, Mr. Ch.airman, of the ag- 
gressions of the North upon the South. I charge 
i upon the South wanton and wicked aggressions 
: upon the North. She seduces our public men. 
She tempts them beyond their strength. She leads 
them " up into an exceeding high mountain,'' and 
shows them the kingdoms of this world, and 
! promises them dominion and power, and they 
" fall down and worship." 
] Sir, 1 have spoken of slavery as the basis of ati 
! aristocracy. It is so; and I give it as my mature 
I and deliberate judgment, that the slaveholders of 
I the South constitute one of the most formidable 
: and powerful aristocracies upon the face of the 
earth. An aristocracy is, where the power is in 
the hands of the few, to the exclusion of the many. 
It is not essential to an aristocracy, that its powers 
and prerogatives should rest upon law; they may 
rest upon a strong public opinion, that has the 
consistency and force of law. Thus it is in the 
, South. The public opinion of the South is entirely 
moulded and directed by the slaveholders. Their 
views, sentiments, and principles, make up south- 
; ern public opinion. The strength of this public 
opinion is strikingly exemplified in its influence 
over the press, that great lever which moves the 
world. The press of the South is the mere organ 
and advocate of the interests and prerogatives of 
slavery. It no more dare assail tnat institution, 
or question its rightful supremacy in the State, 
than dare the press of any aristocratic government 
on earth assail the privileges and immunities of 
its aristocracy. In the one, the press is under the 
surveillance of law and a vigilant police, in the 
. other it is under the equally watchful survdllance 
; of a public opinion stronger than law. 1 say 
stron^^er than law, because the freedom of the 
press is secured by the constitution of every slave 
I State; yet this provision is a dead letter so far £is 
respects slavery. The press of the South is free 
to discuss every other Bubje^t, and all sides of 



every other subject. There is nothing: in morals, I 

in law, or religion, so sacred, that it may not j 
underlie a full and thorough discussion at the 
South, save only the one subject of slavery. Why 
is this made an exception ? I answer, because it 
is the bulicark of southern aristocracy. Why, sir, [ 
the press is free in Russia, in Austria, in the most 
despotic and aristocratic governments in Christen- 
dom, to discuss all and every subject, so that it 
does not trench upon the prerogatives of the priv- 
ileged order. I 

No aristocracy ever struggled more desperately ! 
to strengthen and fortify their prerogatives than j 
have the slaveholders of the South, to extend and 
perpetuate that system, upon which their power 
rests. Holding in their hands fifteen hundred I 
millions of dollars of slave property, together with i 
a large portion of the real estate of the South — i 
having entire control over the public opinion, and ; 
filling near all the positions of office and power in j 
their respective States, with ninety-one represent- 
atives upon this floor, one half of the Senate, and 
the Executive branch of the Government during 
nearly the whole period of our national existence, 
thoroughly and indissolubly united in the common 
interests and dangers of slavery, — I repeat the 
proposition with which I set out, that the slave- 
holders of the South constitute this day one of 
the most powerfal aristocracies on the face of the 
earth, and are now fighting a battle of life and 
death for the permanent control of the Government 
of the Union. 

Sir, one of the characteristics of an aristocracy, 
is unrelenting and unforgiving hatred of those 
who question its privileges or assail its power. 
Slavery has exhibited this in a marked degree, 
during the history of our Government. When 
has a statesman of the North, however pure, and 
just, and noble — however exalted in the affections 
of his countrymen — when has such a man crossed 
the track of southern policy — when has he planted 
himself in the path of slavery, and made manful 
resistance to its exorbitant demands, and survived 
its proscriptive wrath? Sir, the example cannot 
be found in the history of this Government. Such 
a man could have sooner passed in safety the or- 
deal of the Inquisition in the dark ages, upon a 
charge of heresy, than he could pass that Senate 
Chamber to-day. Are these things ever to be ? 
Must we forever bow our necks to the yoke of 
slavery? Shall the true men of the North be for- 
ever struck down ? Are we to stand still and see 
our children proscribed in the land of their birth ? 
No, sir! no! The men are born who will rescue 
this Government from the grasp of a heartless and 
ruthless aristocracy. This great work is the ap- 
propriate and appointed mission of a genuine De- 
mocracy — composed as that Democracy in truth 
is, of tlie great free masses of the country, how- 
ever now divided, or by whatever party names 
they may now be known. 

Democracy is a principle of eternal justice. It 
contends for equality and right. It resists all 
wrong and oppression. It is the foe of all special 
privileges and immunities. It seeks the elevation 
and redemption of man from every species of 
bondage and tyranny. It is the friend of the down- 
trodden and oppressed — of earth's millions, whose 
destiny it is to sweat and toil from the cradle to 
the grave. It sympathizes with labor, and vigi- 
lantly guards its interests and rights against the 



insidious and heartless demands of capital. Gov- 
erned by these high principles and aims, Democ- 
racy has struggled against the increasing power, 
and unjust exactions of the great monied interests 
of ihe North. 

Until now, we have never had interests of & 
purely sectional character, pushed upon the coun- 
try as the main issue in national politics; but now, 
sir, the South insists upon making the suppon 
and extension of slavery, the all-controlling issue 
and test in our national politics. Democracy, 
true to its principles, faithful to its high mission, 
is called upon to resist the progress of slavery 
upon this continent, and upon this issue, it is met 
by the aristocracy of the South in deadly strife. 
Southern aristocracy, and southern capitiil,8eek to 
save themselves from the application of those great 
principles of justice and right, under which, they 
were willing 'to fight the battles of Democracy, 
against the capital and aristocracy of the North. 
Long accustomed to lead in our party conflicts, the 
aristocracy of the South still holds the machinery 
of the party, and by a bold and unscrupulous use 
of its organization, seeks to lead Democracy on 
to self-destruction — to the breaking down of those 
great principles of justice and right, which have 
given it vitality and power as a party, and which 
I alone entitle it to the support of a generous and 
i free people. I am the friend, and have ever been 
; the consistant supporter of party organization; but 
the organization I follow, must be one based upon 
' principle, and having for its object the attainment 
1 of legitimate ends. I will not organize to steal, 
I nor to murder, nor to extend into territory now 
' free, the institution of African slavery. 

Sir, the great elements by which slavery seeks 
I to extend and perpetuate its power — to bear down 
• freedom in this conflict, are, the organization of 
I the Democratic party — the patronage of the Fed- 
eral Government, and abundant and prolific prom- 
! ises of future political preferment. It seduces by 
! its promises, corrupts by its patroiiase, and drivtf 
i by its use of party organization. The two first 
! are employed upon the leaders — the latter upon 
the rank and file. This driving business has been 
tried upon me pretty thoroughly, but with a suc- 
I cess, or rather want of success, which I trust is 
I not very satisfactory to the operators. I shall 
! support no organisation, wielded by men who 
I openly declare their purpose to extend slavery, 
and who proclaim in advance, that they will su;".- 
port no candidate unless he avows principles 
j favorable to their policy. I shall go into no cau- 
' cus with men who tell me upon the threshold, 
that opposition to the extension of slavery dis- 
qualifies a man for their support — that " under no 
political necessity ichatever," will they vote for a 
man whose principles harmonize with niy own; 
and yet demand of me, that I vote for one of op- 
posing views. This is a kind of party organiza- 
tion to which I have not been accustomed, and 
into which I cannot be driven. S:r, 1 know of 
but one way to put a stop to such a system of 
v.Tong upon my rights, and the rights of my con- 
stituents — such an outrageous perversion of the 
i ends and purposes of party organization. My 
I only remedy fors^urh injustice, is firm and unbend- 
ing resistance. If, however, 1 could be driven to 
"pull in the traces,"' under an organization thus 
i constituted, and thus perverted, 1 would still op- 
' pose the man who had bartered away my princi- 




6 



pies for office. I would do this, if for no higher 
reason, as evidence, that all self-respect and man- 
hood had not been extinguished in me. No, sir! 
the man who sells my principles, must not draw 
on me for the pay. 1 shall offer no such premium 
for treachery. The South must reward her own 
vas.sals. She cannot hold up the offices and hij^h 
places of this Government, as u reward to north- 
ern men for their treachery to the cause of 
freedom, and then call on me, by my vote, to con- 
summate the bargain. 

I repeat, sir, 1 am the friend of party organiza- 
tion. I have ever been one of its most steadfast 
supporters. I value it too highly to consent, with- 
out a struggle, that an aristocracy shall wield it for 
the advancement of its local and sectional objects, 
and to the utter prostration of those principles, 
which it was designed to uphold and maintain. 
As a Democrat, and one of the " most straitest 
of the sect," I have resisted, and shall continue 
to resist with all my feeble powers, any and every 
attempt on the part of the slaveholders of the 
South, to wield the organization of the Democratic 
party, against it.s principles, and for the purpose 
of the propagation of human slavery. I will battle 
while I have strength against this eflort to lead 
Democracy to self-destruction, by an unscrupu- 
lous and unjustifiable use of its organization. 
What are the legitimate objects of party organiza- 
tion r What are its uses? As I understand, to 
bring together those entertaining common opinions 
and sentiments upon political subjects, and uniting 
them in concentrated action. The maintenance of 
principle is the end, to which all legitimate organi- 
zation points. Its object is not to bring together 
those holding incongruous and conflicting opinions. 
It may, and indeed often does serve to reconcile 
differences of opinion upon minor points, but it 
never can, and never ought, to unite into harmoni- 
ous action, those holding opposing principles, which 
are deemed vital and fundamental. No one would 
think of uniting permanently in the same party or- 
ganization, the republican and the monarchist. 
They might for a time stand together, fighting a 
common enemy, which threatened to overpower 
both; but the danger once passed, they would im- 
mediately separate and commence a warfare upon 
each other. This alliance of antagonist interests 
and principles, is not unfiequent. Italways takes 
place when threatened by a common danger. Even 
absolute despotism not unfrequently finds its in- 
terest and safety in an alliance with the down- 
trodden masses, and earnestly seeks to remove, in 
some degree, the crushing tyranny which over- 
whelms them. It is so to-day in Russia, and has 
been so for centuries. The Autocrat of that Em- 
pire has a formidable rival, and at limes a deadly 
enemy, in a powerful aristocracy, which holds in 
serfdom the great mass of his subjects. If liy 
relieving the serfs from some portion of the tyranny 
which oppresses them, hecould cripple the powerof 
this ari.stocracy, he would feel more secure in his 
prerogatives, and more safe upon his throne. Should 
he, however, succeed in weakning that aristocracy, 
(which now is the only check ufion his power, )by a 
partial enfranchisement of .the serfs, tilings would 
be changed; and there would be a corresponding 
change in his sympathies and policy. The masses, 
relieved in part from the crnshiiig tyranny which 
had kept them down, would demand an enlarge- 
ment of their rights, and the imperial power would 



ally itself with an enfeebled aristocracy, to resist 
those demands. Governed by the same great 
principles of human action, but under circum- 
stances widely different, we have seen an aristo- 
cratic interest at the South, drawn into temporary 
connection with the Democracy of the country. 
Democracy, as a principle, can have no sympathy 
or natural alliance with Slavery. Light and dark- 
ness are not more opposed. They occupy the 
extreme points of political antagonism. The one, 
the friend of the largest liberty; the other, the 
enemy of every human right. While thus op- 
posed to each other, from the nature and constitu- 
tion of things; yet Democracy, as an active and 
practical element in the workings of our system of 
Government, pays profound respect and loyal obe- 
dience to the Constitution, and refrains, as in duty 
bound, from any interference with slavery in the 
several States where it exists. As a local, do- 
mestic. State institution, whatever may be its evils 
and its wrongs, it is entitled under the Constitu- 
tion to peace and security. But when slavery 
steps beyond State boundaries, and invokes the 
power of the General Government to extend and 
perpetuate the system — to strengthen and uphold 
the aristocracy which it nourishes and sustains, 
Democracy must either be false in its principles, 
or it must resist demands so extraordinary and 
dangerous. It is only as a State institution, that 
slavery can claim forbearance and toleration. 
When it voluntarily lays aside its local and do- 
mestic character, and enters upon the theatre of 
national politics, — when it assumes an attitude 
towards the Federal Government such as that in 
which it now stands, dictating law under the threats 
of disunion, resistance becomes a duty of the 
highest obligation. Silence and submission under 
such circumstances, would be moral treason to our 
free institutions. 

Mr. Chairman, we hear much anxiety ex- 
pressed in certain quarters for a speedy and final 
settlement of all the controverted questions grow- 
ing out of the subject of slavery. Some northern 
gentlemen are nervously alarmed for the safety of 
the Union. So distressing are their fears, that 
they cannot speak except in terms of the most 
gloomy forebodings. A solicitude so deep and 
anxious presses its weight upon them so as to 
destroy sleep, and appetite, and physical comfort. 
The sweets of a long-coveted retirement cannot 
hold within its sanctuary the anxious throbbings 
of a patriot heart. The rest of a quiet retreat is 
abandoned for a pilgrimage to the Capitol, to teach 
the North submission, and aid the South in the 
work of " preserving the Union." Surely such 
patriotism deserves its reward. Oh! sir, how 
ungrateful in a wicked and uncharitable world, to 
breathe its suspicions that selfishness or ambition 
for presidential honors had aught to do in this 
labor of love. Sir, there has been an industrious 
and labored effort to create alarm for the safety of 
the Union — toget up apanic in the country; and in 
this work northern men and northern presses have 
contributed their full share. The North is to be 
frightened from its principles and propriety; and 
under the plea of " danger to the Union," north- 
ern men on this floor hope to justify themselves 
to their constituents for the abandonment of the 
cause of freedom. I desire most earnestly a settle- 
ment upon a just and truly national basis of the 
present controversy growing out of llie demand of 



slavery to overrun and occupy our free territories. 
I will support any proposition which shall give 
effectual guarantees against the extension of slavery 
come from what quarter it may. I will support 
no sell' me which does not give such guarantees, 
with wiiaievtr plausibility it may be concocted, or 
however impoaing the circumstances which may 
attend its introduction into these halls. 1 have no 
such veneration for large committees, however 
distinguished the individuals of which they are 
composed, as to reconcile me to the extension of 
slavery. Thecommitteeof thirteen, recently raised 
in the Senate, composed as it is of eleven members, 
who are known to favor the policy of the South, 
will submit no plan of adjustment ihat is not wholly 
one-sided and sectional. Nothing can hoped 
for frem that quarter in the least favorable to free- 
dom. The committee was raised against the votes 
of those who represented two-thirds of the freemen 
of this country — its members elecied themselves 
and each other, and I cannot view it in any other 
light than as a scheme to force upon the country 
a measure of southern policy, under the name of 
'* compromise." Yet it is hoped by some such 
process to quiet the North, and calm the agitation 
growing out of the dangerous and unwarrantable 
demands of slavery. Sn-, no palliative which may 
be offered us by this committee of thirteen, v;ill 
reach the disease or give quiet to the country. 
This struggle will go on increasing in force and 
intensity until limits are fixed to the possessions 
of slavery — until the aristocracy of the South shall 
abandon its alarming pretensions, and rest content 
with that share of political influence to which it is 
justly entitled under the Constitution. Agitation 
will continue until there is freedom upon this 
floor, and the rights of a majority acknowledged 
and respected. Sir, these threats of disunion — 
this bold defiance of the rightful and constitutional 
authority of this Government, must cease, before 
peace and fraternal concord will be restored to the 
country. A stop must be put to this proscription : 
of northern men, who do not acknowledge the 
divine chara-- r and inestimable blessings of sla- 
very. In short, this struggle between the oppos- 
ing principles of freedom and slavery, will go on, 
until that day shall arise when the child that is 
nursed by a white mother, shall stand an equal 
chance in this Government, with one nursed in the 
tap of a slave. We claim for the men of the North 
an equality in this Government. It is ours by 
right of inheritance, and with the blessing of God 
we mean to have it. We wage no warfare upon 
the South. Their system of slavery is their own, 
as is the aristocracy it sustains. Their rights, 
under the Constitution, we pledge ourselves to re- 
spect as sacred and inviolate; but it is the Con- 
stitution, as it shall be interpreted by the high 
powers of this Government, and not as it shall be 
construed by their imperial fiat, by which we 
agree to abide. 

The true ground of the present controversy, is 
not that slavery is assailed, or even threatened, 
within its lawful limits, the States where it exists; 
but that resistance is offered to its extension into 
the free territories of the nation. This is the true 
and real ground of the present controversy. The 
slaveholders are alarmed lest the sceptre of politi- 
cal power shall be taken from their hands; and 
they demand an enlargement of the area of slavery, 
as_a means of increasing the value of slave prop- 



erty, and of securing to them the permanent con- 
trol over the Government of the Union. True to 
the instincts and passions of an aristocracy, they 
llireaten to ruin when they can no longer rule, if 
the slaveholders of the South would rest satisfied 
wit*> their aristocratic position and dominion in 
the slave States, and be content to share with the 
freemen of the North, the political power of this 
Government upon the terms and conditions pre- 
scribed in the Constitution, we should have no 
agitation, no strife, connected with the subject of 
slavery. We claim no right to interfere with 
slavery or any of the prerogatives it confers, in 
the southern States of this tinion. It may stand 
there for centuries to come, if it can so stand, as it 
has stood for centuries that have passed, without 
let or hindrance, oi molestation on the part of this 
Government. But when it attempts to pass be- 
yond State limits and plant itself upon our national 
territories, and puts forth demands subversive of 
our institutions sf Government, then slavery loses 
its local ..nd domestic character, and becomes a 
subject of \ ital concern to the people of the whole 
Union. 

Mr. Chairman, some gentlemen, apparently 
with a view to excuse their conduct, and to lull the 
free States into a fatal sense of security, confi- 
dently assume, that slavery can never exist in 
any part of the territory acquired from Mexico. 
This assumption, it is worthy of note, comes ex- 
clusively from northern men, and from that class 
of northern men who reconcile it with their duty 
to act upon all occasions in harmony with the in- 
terest and policy of slavery. It is directly and 
flatly contradicted, by almost every southern man 
who has spoken upon the subject, and is in the 
face of every fact, connected with the history and 
progress of slavery upon this continent. Of all 
our vast possessions, owned at the time of the or- 
ganization of the Government, together with those 
acquired from France and Spain, and by ihe an- 
■ nexation of Texas, not one foot can be found to- 
' day, free from the institution of slavery, that was 
not secured to freedom by the positive law of 
this Government. The existence or nontxisttnce 
of slavery in a country, does not depend upon 
I soil, or climate, or production. It is regulated 
''. by jiecuniary considerations, and the demand for 
labor. The number of slaves, that can be profit- 
ably employed upon a given extent of territory, 
will depend much upon the character of its pro- 
ductions; but wherever labor is in demand — where- 
ever there is work to do, there the slave is valu- 
able, and there he will be taken, unless legal bar- 
riers are interposed to prevent it. This is proved 
by the whole history of the settlenunt of this 
continent. There is no branch of labor in which 
slaves can be more profitably employed than in 
mining the precious metals. It was for this pur- 
pose that slaves were first employed in America. 

It is a mockery, Mr. Chairman, to pretend that 
slavery cannot exist in the territories acquired from 
Mexico. It can, and it surely will go there, un- 
less prevented by the action of this Government, 
or the early organization of those territories as 
States, before slavery has time to diffuse itself over 
them. Let our action in these halls be controlled 
by the threats and policy of a slaveholding aris- 
tocracy — organize territorial governments without 
any prohibition of slavery — break down all bar- 
riers against its introduction by a submission on 



8 



our part to the constitutional dog;mas of the South, 
and slavery will as certainly overrun those terri- 
tories, as that it has spread from the Potomac, 
?outh and west, to the Gulf of Mexico and the 
banks of the Rio Grande. This result is not only 
admitted by the South, but it is openly and boldly 
proclaimed as her settled and fixed policy — a pol- 
icy necessary, as she avers, to her safety, and from 
which, sooner than depart, she is willing to dissolve 
the Union. Yet, in the face of all this, we are 
mocked with the idle assurances of northern men. 



^ that there is no danger that slavery will be extended. 
Sir, what is this controversy about ? For what is 
this protracted and exciting struggle.' It has but 
one foundation. It grows out of tl>€ declared, 
undisguised policy of the South to extend and 
perpetuate the system of human slavery. The 
issue is upon us. It cannot be evaded. Its re- 
sponsiliilities are ours — let us meet them like men. 
The judgment of posterity and the tribunal of a 
just God, will hold us accountable for the issues 
of this great question of freedom or slavery. 



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